Beneath the Shield (WWE FanFiction)
by Phil1990
Summary: As I journalist I wanted to get close to The Shield, but I didn't expect the world of adventure that was in store.
1. Chapter 1

I looked up at my poster of Seth Rollins and sighed, was this the closest I would ever get to him? I stared at the poster for a while as I lay on my bed thinking of the Raw results from the previous night, Seth was now a champion and I wanted to interview him and ask him how it felt to wear gold, but I had no idea how to.

I checked the WWE website and realised that the annual WWE European tour came to the UK next week, this was my only chance to get close to the stable WWE called "The Shield."

I left the house and wandered down the street toward the office when I saw a little boy in a John Cena shirt sitting outside the cafe in the centre of town, he couldnt have been more than five or six and I was a little worried that he was all alone. So I went over and asked his name and he said he was named after John Cena and his name was John too.

I chatted to John for a while about his "WWE Obsession" as he called it and he gave me a few questions to ask The Shield when I saw them next week.

I smiled at how happy the boy was when he talked about his wrestling heroes and then helped him to find his parents before I made my way to work to check out my latest assignment.

The next week flew by, I collected all the questions I needed for the boys and called the management who agreed to let me do the interview as long as they could "vet" the questions first and that I didn't ask any questons that would force them to break out of character.

I agreed quickly and said I would meet with management today in order for them to check everything was fine and give me to pass to meet the boys.

They agreed that I could ask all but one of my questions, I was fine with this and began to draft up my article whilst I waited for my train to WWE's live event in Nottingham.

I sat on the train thinking of what it would be like to meet the three guys that have become the biggest stars in WWE over the past year and smiled, because I was going to be the first person to interview all three of them for a local magazine. I was so excited.

I jumped off the train and headed for the arena, the guy I met with the day before introduced himself again as Aiden head of PR and he escorted me to a nice room backstage where I was informed The Shield would enter in around 10 minutes.

I sat down and tried to breathe, then I was hyperventilating and then I nearly fainted, I couldn't catch my breathe and Aiden had left me, I thought I was going to pass out then I felt a hand on my back "Hey, are you ok? Breathe, slowly, you're taking breaths to deep, it will make you light headed." I looked up but my eyes blurred over and then everything was black.

I opened my eyes to see a figure standing above me, he had his back to me but I thought I recognised the hair, he turned around and smiled.

"You gave us all a bit of a scare, thankfully I was on hand to deliver CPR," he winked.

I knew that I knew him, Seth Rollins, he was the smallest but most athletic of the group, his blonde streak in the middle of his head of black hair was a strange quality I was hoping I could ask him about, but right now I was just happy he had been there when he was.

"What happened?" I coughed

"Well, I was told to report to backstage left for an interview and next thing I know I see you in the room, I thought at first you were a crazed fan but then you looked like you were turning blue so I tried to calm you down and you passed out. I gave you mouth to mouth and you came round so I guess all those lessons worked. The doctor came to see you and said you will be fine in a few minutes just make sure you are not light headed when you wake up." He replied, his eyes never leaving mine.

"You saved me, thank you. But you didn't have to wait for me to wake up." I said, my voice still feeling a little croaky.

"Are you kidding, I wanted to make sure there was no lasting effects, plus I wasn't up for gettting sued for giving CPR to a fan." He smiled

"I'm not a fan, well I am but I was here to interview you, Dean and Roman." I said but part of me wished I had just told him I was a lost fan to save us both any further embarrassment.

"I know you are and I know your name, Carmen, I know you are from around here and you work local to Nottingham, and you are a sports freak. It's ok, so am I, Just American sport." He joked

"What, how do you know all of that!" I tried to shout but my voice wasn;t back so what came out furthered my embarrassment.

"I looked in your bag when you were passed out, please refrain from shouting, it's to funny and I think it is harsh to laugh at someone who is lying there looking like a lost puppy." he looked over at me with a sad face.

"Lost puppy, thanks! And oh, ok. I guess you needed to find out who I am. But don't you have a match to go and compete? and where are Roman and Dean." I was showing my confusement because Seth came over and took my hand in his and smiled again,

"Poor girl, you have no idea how long you were out for, I have already had my match, I won, via DQ Dean and Roman cant help themselves then I came back and you were still out cold, so I thought I would wait for you to wake up and make sure you were ok, after all I was promised an interview." He gripped my hand tighter and tried to lift me up.

"The interview! Of course where are Dean and Roman." I sat up with Seth's help and tried to stand up but the light headedness he had warned me about took full effect and Seth took me under the arm and helped me to walk over to the side of the room where all my documents were.

"They headed back to the hotel, which is where I should be now for our cool down session, feel free to come with me then I can ask them to do the interview after," He winked again and part of me thought he was flirting but then I realised he was playing and totally seeing me for the wounded animal I must have looked like.

"That would be great thanks," I smiled and shook his hand.

"Great, I will drive you." He smiled again but this time I saw the menace behind his eyes and part of me was strangely scared.

CHAPTER TWO - GETTING TO KNOW THE SHIELD

It was raining by the time we left the arena so Seth gave me his jacket and we slowly walked over to his black Range Rover which he told me was close to brand new, It was beautiful, and so was he ,he told me all about how we drove on the wrong side of the road and that he could never get used to the UK rules when he was over here.

"How long are you here for." I asked half knowing the response

"Just the fortnight, then we head over to Ireland and then back to America before the end of November." He muttered under his breath, looking half surprised at how busy his schedule was.

"Are you fighing every night." I asked, wondering how his body took that much abuse.

"No, I have certain nights off when The Shield are not needed and sometimes we pre-record backstage segments so I have some time to myself, it is a busy schedule." He winked

"So I see. I thought working a 9-5 job was had" I laughed

"Honey, you aint seen nothing yet" he winked as he pulled into the hotel car park and parked the car.

He jumped out and then walked round and opened my door, (Such a gentleman) then showed me to his hotel room.

"Wow, this is beautiful, this is where you are staying?" I was shocked at how big the room was just for him, it was almost the size of my entire house!

"Yeah, this is all mine, but I'm rarely in here, there's a gym downstairs." he smiled

"I usually avoid the gym because I have no upper body strength but all my strength is in my legs, so I can do head scissor moves and stuff but that's about it," I laughes as I realised I was talking to a guy who did this for a living and I was talking about moves I pull off on my sister.

"Oh, really" he smiled and climbed up on the bed "Show me"

I smiled and was a little nervous, I couldn't pull off head scissors on Seth Rollins...Or could I?

I ran up towards him and he grabbed my legs swung me around and I landed on the bed but he landed on the floor with a thud.

"Oh my god, shit, are you ok?" I crawled to the edge of the bed to see Seths legs sticking out from underneath but his body had dissapeared, he reached up and pulled me under the bed to him.

"Not bad for a rookie." he smiled and leaned in to kiss me, I froze. This was exceptionally unprofessional.

Seth smiled and realised what my problem was and told me he would go and get Dean and Roman so we could do the interview,

I sat on his bed and waited, I wanted to cry, I had been put into the position I had wanted to be in all my life and I could do nothing about it because I was working so I had to be professional.

Seth returned minutes later followed by Dean and Roman and we all introduced ourselves, Roman was huge, and he looked good, it was hard for me to remain focused and some of Deans responces were so sarcastic I had to stop myself from laughing, these guys were so close and so happy around each other, I was so jealous of their relationship and when were were done they all thanked me and shook my hand.

Seth disappeared with Dean and Roman and I packed all my things away and decided he had left so I picked up my bag and left the room.

I got as far as the lift when I heard my name, It could only be one person since I didn't know anyone else here, it was Seth.

"Where you going." He asked in disbelief "I went to see tomorrow's schedule, I'm free, so I am driving you home." He winked

"You are. Do you even know where I live." I smiled.

Seth took my bag with a smile, no which is why you are going to show me."

CHAPTER THREE - The Real Seth Rollins

I had got the train to Nottingham so I had no idea how direct Seth home in a car, so I checked out the map and thought I had found a way, taking all the main roads but we had somehow taken a back road and ended up in the middle of no where near a farm.

Seth found it all hilarious and I was stressing about the map and the fact that I was going to miss my deadline. He put his hand in mine and told me to stop stressing he would find us somewhere to stay with internet connection so I could email my work over and we could get some sleep as it was nearing 1am.

I must have dozed off in the car because when I woke up I was in a room with orange curtains and a computer, Seth was no where to be seen and I was a little scared.

I climbed out of bed and fell over the floor, or what I thought was the floor, it was Seth asleep by my bed and I had landed on top of him.

"Good morning to you too." He mumbled

"Oh, hey, do you know what time it is, or where we are?" I asked nervously

"We are in cottage on the edge of Nottingham, and it is 10:15am." he told me

"SHIT! My deadline is in 15 minutes", I flew to the computer and typed up my interview and an angle and sent it to the editor with three minutes to spare.

Seth was still asleep, so I went downstairs and made some breakfast. I sat in the kitchen reading todays paper when he finally rose and came down to me, I had made him some breakfast and he kissed me on the cheek before eating all that I had made.

"Do you have plans today." he asked

"Nope, I finished my report on time and now I have the rest of the day to find a new angle or to go and pick up tomorrows assignment." I grimaced

"Do you enjoy your job." he asked

"I love it, I get to meet people like you." I smiled

"Get up, lets go shopping." he yelled in the gayest voice ever!

I jumped up and and led the way to his car and asked if I could drive.

"Sure." he smiled


	2. Chapter 2

Seth had a glint in his eye I had never seen before, as we walked around the huge shopping centre and he ran in and out of shops buying things he didn't even need.

We had been running around like children for almost an hour when I my phone began to ring.

"I'll catch you up" I told Seth as I grabbed my phone from my pocket.

"Hi Mark, what's wrong?" I asked my boss.

"Your work was rushed, I can tell. But it seems like a really good interview you did with this Seth Rollins character, see if you can press him for some more information about his childhood for our next issue. This is your one and only assignment, don't come back without it."

Mark put the phone down before I could refuse, I stood stunned that I had to double cross one of the nicest people I had ever met.

"Is everything ok?" Seth asked appearing behind me.

"Absolutely great, my boss just gave me my assignment over the phone, I don't have to go into work for the next few days." I fake smiled.

"That's great, let's get coffee." Seth smiled then skipped down the street.

I looked after him smiling at how carefree he was before he turned and saw I was still in the same spot, he skipped back up to me and took my hand, skipping back down to where he was, I couldn't help but join in.

"Two coffee's please." Seth smiled and then looked over to me.

"You want coffee right?" he looked at me and then at my expression and scowled. "Are you sure you are ok, since the phone call you have been looking a bit down, what did your boss say?"

"He said he could tell my article was rushed but he liked it and you and he thought you sounded like a nice guy." I smiled not wanting to say anything further.

"How Sweet, I bet I would like him too." Seth smiled as he took the coffees off the waitress and started to put sugar in his and then mine.

"Please tell me you like sugar." He begged

"Yes, two please." I smiled and took my hand again, squeezing it.

The car ride back was a quiet one, I really did like this boy, he was a childish rebel with a blonde streak in his hair. I was falling for him, and there was nothing I could do about it because my boss wanted me to use him for a story!

"You have been looking down for the past few hours, are you sure you are feeling ok? Do you need to stop off and get some medicine?" Seth took his hand off the gear stick and stroked my leg.

"I'm fine." I lied holding his hand in mine.

He stopped the car and looked turned to me.

"There is something wrong, I know it. If you want me to drop you off and go I can, I didn't mean for us to become so, well close over one day, but I like it and I think I am beginning to like you and if you are ill please tell me so I can help." Seth looked really bothered by it whatever I was feeling but I couldn't tell him.

"I'm gonna be sick." I mumbled then jumped out of the car and ran over to the closest bush.

Seth ran after me and held my hair, stroking it as I threw up.

"See, I knew you were ill." He half smiled and held my hand as I wiped my face with a tissue.

"This is your fault" I laughed "You put too much sugar in my coffee."

Seth laughed and grabbed my hand, helping me back to the car. We then headed for the chemist where he told me he was getting some medicine and I waited in the car.

I sat there alone, thinking about life when without even knowing tears were running down my cheeks, I realised I was silently crying. I couldn't believe what I had got myself into, I really liked Seth and I knew that if I told him my boss intended to use him for a story he would hate me and realise I was just a journalist.

I cried into my hands and tried to wipe my face as Seth jumped back in the car. He looked at me and could see that my face was all wet.

"Hey hey hey what's this." He said wiping my face dry. "Let's get you home eh?"

We drove a few more minutes before I began to recognise where we were and directed Seth to my house.

"This is me." I smiled and grabbed my things whilst Seth opened the car door and grabbed the rest of my bags.

I showed him into my apartment, quite embarrassed that it might be smaller and a lot cheaper than he was used to, after seeing his hotel room.

"I like your place." He smiled and took all the bags off me before dropping them by the front door.

"Sit down and I will get the medicine I brought." He said

I sat on the sofa and Seth sat next to me, and took the bottle out of the packet before pouring it onto the spoon.

"Open your mouth then." He laughed and I opened my mouth for the medicine he was offering, before he took the spoon out and put all the stuff away.

"Very tidy aren't you." I joked.

"Well someone has to be." He said as he looked around the room.

"Hey, I was in a rush, I was setting out to interview you remember." I looked at him and looked around. "I didn't know that you would be coming back with me did I."

"Didn't you." He questioned.

"No, how would I of, I set out to do the interview and get home before midnight. I didn't know who you were at the time, I knew Seth the wrestler a day ago, somehow over the last 24 hours I have had the pleasure of meeting the guy behind Seth and I like him." I replied

"You do." He asked as he leaned forward toward me and this time my lips caught his and we finally locked lips, it was better than I expected it to be but Seth broke it off after a few seconds and laughed.

"You still have sick breath." He giggled and helped me just up so I could brush my teeth.

I wandered to the bathroom as quickly as I could and scrubbed my teeth so I could get rid of the breath Seth was referring to.

I wanted to wander over the door to tell him I was done but the door opened itself and Seth walked in and took my face in his hands, continuing where he left off, this time I felt his tongue in my mouth, searching and he moved it around, I felt the passion behind the kiss and slowly backed away telling Seth that I didn't feel I was strong enough to continue this.

"That's fine." He smiled wiping his face. "I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do, but it is almost midnight, I do really want to get some sleep.

"Come with me" I smiled taking him by the hand and leading him up the stairs. "This is my room" I stated showing him the room with the double bed, "this is where we are sleeping, mostly because I haven't got the energy to make the bed up in the guest room, I am not coming on to you or anything I just can't be bothered." I laughed

"Of course not" he smirked as he began to undress.

"Really? So now you are gonna show me what I can't have." I cried

"You said no, I am just getting ready for bed." He giggled

"Well two can play your game, Seth" I laughed as I headed over to the other side of the bed and began to slowly undress, Seth didn't take his eyes off mine the whole time and I saw the smile on his face fade as I began to approach the last layer.

We both stood opposite sides of the bed in our underwear, just staring at each other. Seth had an amazing body, just standing there in his tiny shorts with his six pack out.

"Oh fuck this." I shouted as I jumped over the bed and straight into Seth's arms where I was met by his lips, his hands began to wander as he undid my bra and I helped him out of his remaining clothes.

His lips wandered down my neck and I began to moan, I could feel his mouth smiling as he trailed kisses all the way down my body before stopping on my stomach to slowly remove my lace pants.

We were both naked by this point and we backed over towards the bed and Seth dropped me down slowly before positioning himself between my legs, I moaned as he finally entered me and his lips found mine again and he continued to kiss me.

"You ok?" he asked part way through as I began to breathe heavily, "Never better." came the reply.

He continued to kiss me as I climbed more and more towards my climax and when I did reach it, it was the biggest feeling of ecstasy I had ever felt and Seth held me until he reached his own climax, after which he snuggled up next to me in the bed.

"Thought you were tired." He smiled rubbing side.

"What can I say, you bring out the energy in me." I laughed and put my head into gap in his neck, where we both snuggled down and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning and it was still dark outside, I turned over expecting to find Seth next to me, but he was gone. His part of the bed was cold and he was nowhere to be seen. This made me feel uneasy, where had he gone? Had he got what he wanted and left?

I got out of bed and checked the clock, it was almost 1pm no wonder Seth was gone, he had to work tonight, and I hadn't set an alarm. I decided to get dressed and head into work to find out what was next on my assignment list.

I got there and Mark was waiting for me.

"Carmen, do you have your next piece of work already?" He asked half smiling.

"No, I came to see what I was covering today, Seth has gone. I stayed with him all day yesterday, and he has no haunting secrets. Guess the story was a bust."

"Really? You spent a whole day with him?"

"Yes he left this morning." I responded but then realised that my boss had me worked out.

"This morning, so you spent two nights with this boy? And you didn't spend those nights 'together' did you?" He asked trying to dig into my private life.

"Of course not, do you know how unprofessional that is? I would never do that, we stayed in a hotel in Nottingham." I gulped

"Fine. Here, there are three games in League one today that no one is covering can you get down there and do a few interviews and upload an internet report then send me one made up for the newspaper?"

"Word limit?" I asked

"Keep it below 300 please, see you tomorrow."

"Thanks, bye."

It was one of the busiest afternoons ever, I love mid-week football! It's one of the best things about being a football fan. I talked to a few footballers, wrote my reports based on how much of the games I had seen, uploaded them on line and then sent Mark my hard copies. After all that I was exhausted and headed back home, it was close onto 11pm and I just wanted to go back to bed.

Sleep was just about the only thing on my mind right now and I needed it bad, I remembered last night and the fact that I had not got asleep until around 2am and then I was late checking out my assignments, I couldn't do that again, Mark would kill me.

After a hot chocolate I headed to bed and shamefully I was dreaming about Seth, when I heard a bang downstairs. I turned into some sort of ninja and grabbed a metal pole I stashed by the door and headed downstairs to see who was robbing me.

There was no one there, I was alone, then realised the noise came from outside my front door. I looked at my watch, it was 1:53am. I didn't want to open the door but I would never have been able to go back to sleep knowing there was a random person on my doorstep.

I slowly opened the door still holding my metal pole and peeked through the tiny gap I had made.

"Hey, did I wake you" a voice asked

"It's 2am, what do you think!" I replied

It was Seth, he was back, but I didn't know why. I thought he had got what he wanted and gone.

"What's wrong?" I asked

"Can I come in?" He smiled and I opened the door wider motioning for him to walk past.

He stepped inside and looked at me holding the metal pole.

"Where you really going to hit me with that?" he laughed

"It depends, if you were a burglar I would have."

Seth laughed again then came over and took the pole from me, I fastened the rope on my dressing gown and looked up to see what Seth was doing.

"So, what are you doing back here?" I asked sounding quite rude.

"What do you mean?" Seth questioned.

"I thought when I woke up this morning, you had taken what you wanted and gone. There was no sign of you and I didn't expect you to come back." I half shouted

"Really? You actually think I would do that to you? First off, I left a note saying I had a live event a few hours away to attend and then I would be back, it lasted a little longer than I thought I was hoping to be back by midnight, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I just didn't find your note and I just jumped to conclusions, sorry."

Seth smiled and came closer to me, "Do you really think I would stay out all night when I could come back home to you?"

"Home?" I asked

"You know what I mean." Seth leaned in and kissed me. I responded, realising how much I missed him then remembered the time.

"We need to get to bed, I have an early start tomorrow."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Seth laughed and took his coat off before we both headed upstairs.

This time I just lay there with my head on Seth's bare chest, it felt amazing and I felt free for the first time in a long time. I felt like this is where I wanted to be.

I fell asleep in that position and woke up holding Seth's hand, but this time it was my turn to make an exit whilst Seth slept. I picked up a piece of paper off the floor which I realised was Seth's note.

"Gone to the live event, will be back later. Have a good day, try not to miss me, Seth x"

I smiled to myself then turned the letter over and wrote:

I have to head into work. Hopefully I shouldn't be too long, help yourself to food. See you around dinner time. Carmen x

Then kissed Seth on the forehead before heading out to work.


	4. Chapter 4

My boss seemed to be in one of his famous bad moods that Thursday morning but I was more haunted by the fact that Seth returned to America tomorrow.

How had I let myself fall for him? I knew he was from America and I knew this was just a fling so why was I so hurt that he was leaving?

People always leave right? Well they had my entire life, this was why I loved my job, I met people then I walked away, no strings attached and I was allowed to be alone forever, just the way I liked it. Until Seth walked into my life and turned it upside down!

Mark was mumbling about something to do with Wrestling, apparently he still wanted me to dig for a story surrounding Seth but he was moving the deadline so I had all the time I needed to complete it, the one thing I didn't actually have. I had less than 24 hours and I was wasting time here, with these people.

"Mark, I don't feel to good, I'm gonna finish these features at home." I told my boss as I opened the door to his office.

"Fine, but you miss deadline and your ass is mine." He shouted back as I skipped down the corridor.

It was the fastest I had ever walked home, well ran home and as I entered the house Seth was sitting at my dining room table wearing just a pair of shorts and eating a bacon sandwich.

"You said you would be back at dinn..." I cut him of as I walked into the room dropped everything and kissed him, I could still taste the sandwich on his lips and I started to remove all of my clothes so we were on neutral ground.

He backed me over towards the sofa as the kiss deepened and his hands again began to wander until I was naked and he was still standing in just his shorts.

He backed off and stepped out of them, I smiled looking down at what I knew I was about to receive before lying back on the sofa and enjoying every second.

Seth took my arm and lifted me up afterwards, then he sat next to me and handed me a blanket.

"What was that all about? he asked covering me up.

"I don't actually know, I was at work and all I could think of was you and then when I saw you, this happened." I smirked.

"Hey, I'm not complaining, I loved it. But are you sure that was what you wanted to happen?"

"Yes, and no. I don't know." I mumbled

"I'm glad you are clear on the subject. So, what were you thinking about me then?" He smiled with a sparkle in his eye.

"Tomorrow, the fact that you are leaving" without realising tears began to fall from my eyes. "I just wasn't ready for that realisation yet, that's all."

Seth wiped the tear from the corner of my eye and hugged me, "Not ready huh? I'm not sure I am either. but that's work for ya Carm, I have to go where I go and I always leave people behind."

"Story of my life." I half cried as I picked up my clothes and headed upstairs to get dressed.

I sat on the bed alone for a while and let all the tears out, I could hear Seth downstairs cleaning up his dishes from breakfast.

I grabbed a pair of shorts and t-shirt to put on just so I was no longer walking around in a blanket and started to finish the features I began at work, but my head wasn't working and I just began to cry again.

Seth must have creeped up the stairs not knowing what to expect because when I lifted my head back up I saw his reflection in the computer screen, he was standing by the door looking downtrodden.

"I'm sorry, I should never have involved you in my crazy life." he pushed the door closed and sat down on the bed.

"No, don't you dare be sorry, I have never felt this way before, and you gave this to me. I can only thank you for that. These tears have a mind of their own." I smiled.

Seth came over and hugged me, I stood up and put my arms around him. I could feel the muscle through the shirt he had put on and it almost excited me.

None of us wanted to let go, but we parted and Seth leaned in to kiss me.

"Look, we still have the rest of today, finish up this work and we can go out, together." He pointed at the computer screen and I beamed.

"Ok, I will come down in about an hour." Seth left but shouted up the stairs.

"Put some more clothes on though, or we will never get out of the house." I laughed and put on some trousers and a jumper.

My features were emailed over not long after and I went downstairs to find Seth fully clothed and ready to leave.

"How long have you been waiting?" I asked.

"I'd wait for you forever." he smiled.

I felt a little embarrassed by the comment "So, where we going." I asked as Seth passed me my coat that I had left on the floor during our passionate moment earlier,

"For a walk, lets find a scenic route to get lost in." He smiled.

"I know the perfect place." I responded as Seth took my hand and we headed for the door.

We headed towards one of my favorite spots from when I was a kid, a hill that over looked a beautiful lake.

"So, feeling a bit better now?" Seth asked

"Yeah, I think so. I feel like you have to leave, that much is imminent but we can make the most of the few hours we have left."

Seth laughed and squeezed my hand.

"I feel like I have been looking after you since the minute we met, first you faint then you throw up and now you become emotional, the wierd thing is, I think I like it. He laughed "but no, this isn't why I brought you out here, I thought we could walk somewhere scenic where no one can hear us and I could tell you a bit about me and you could tell me a bit about you so we can get to know each other better."

Wow, this is weird, I thought but I was falling for him and I kinda wanted to get to know him better.

"Ok, start at the beginning like David Copperfield? I asked

Seth laughed, "Just tell me a story about you, what made you, you. Why you became a journalist? Ya know."

"Ah, I see. Ok, well. My Dad got me into Sport at a very young age and football became my life. When he died I decide the only thing I could do to honour him and to keep myself sane was to continue with football and make it a bigger part of my life."

Seth squeezed my hand again "Why football. What about the rest of your family?"

"Football was and still is the only constant thing in my life, boys come and go, family comes and goes but on a Saturday at 3pm. There is always football. My family I rarely see any more, they live pretty far away and I don't have much contact with them. Since my dad died we stopped being close and I have go used to keeping everyone at arms length."

"You never let anyone in?" Seth replied looking shocked.

"When I was little, I thought I was incapable of love, I had never seen it, so I never knew if I would know if I had felt it. Boys have come and gone over the past few years and I have let them, I never felt like I needed them or anyone until you.

Seth stopped walking and looked at me.

"Me?"

"You, I have never felt for someone the way I feel about you. And now you are leaving, which furthers my theory, I am not supposed to love, because everything I love gets taken away from me."

Seth looked shocked at my confession and put his arm around my shoulders.

"Why do I always choose the ones who are messed up in the head." He laughed.

"Thanks."

"So, you love me after approximately, 60 hours I have managed to penetrate that shell of yours and forced you to have feelings." Seth laughed.

"It's not funny." I scowled.

"I didn't mean to laugh, I'm sorry, I know that was pretty hard for you to open up about that stuff, I know I haven't known you for long but I have already realised that is the sort of person you are." Seth walked over to a rock and sat down motioning for me to join him.

"You have told me about you, it's not my turn to tell you about the real me."

"The real you." I asked.

"Seth Rollins, the guy you wanted to interview, the member of the Shield that you have on your bedroom wall, as creepy as that is, he is fictional, he is a character the wrestling company created. This is the real me, the one who has been keeping an eye on you for two days, the one who can't find a way to leave you even though I know I have to."

He breathed in deeply and continued.

"I have a contract, I have to keep wrestling because I signed that contract. I love fighting, it helps me to get rid of all the anger I feel. It allows me to forget about the fact that for the most part I am just like you, I love being alone, I never let anyone close and I'm scared." He laughed again. "That's right Carmen, breaking news, one of the hounds of justice is actually afraid."

"Afraid of what?" I asked bemused.

"This? Everything, it's like I am wasting life and I will never have one of these lives where you watch your kids grow up and you have a wife and family, what if one day I turn around and life has passed me by? If the only thing I have to show for my life on this planet is a few belts I have won for hitting people? It's not a life, but it's the only life I fell I am fit for."

He looked at me and tried to study how I was going to react.

"I guess we are just a pair of weirdos then aren't we? I laughed.

"Yes we are." Seth giggled to himself before he put his arm back around me and stared at the lake.

"So this is what freedom feels like, like those ducks being able to go and stay wherever they want?"

"Everyone's freedom only goes so far. Everyone has their boundaries." I smiled.

Seth leaned over an kissed me hard on the lips. "Of all the people I could have had interview me, it had to be you, you philosophical wench!" he giggled.

"And of all the people I could have interviewed, it had to be you, you world hating philistine." We both smiled as we looked out as far as the lake went, and wondered what was over there.


	5. Chapter 5

We sat there for what seemed like hours staring across the lake and over the rocks until Seth moved and it seemed to wake me out of the daze I had fallen into.

"You ok?" He asked

"I can't even begin to answer that" I mumbled

Seth half smiled before hugging me tight and sighing.

"We should head back, it will be dark soon" he grumbled

"Yeah, let's go get some food." I suggested.

"Yeah, we can eat out. Let's just go to the first place we see"

I agreed and we walked hand in hand toward the entrance to the lake. I still had the horrible feeling in my gut but I decided to overlook whatever it was my heart was feeling and enjoy my last night with one third of the Shield.

We found a nice looking restaurant on the edge of town and decided to eat in there and then head back home to talk properly.

"You worked out what you want yet?" Seth asked

"This would be a lot simpler if you were on the menu." I laughed

Seth blushed and gave me that look as if to say he felt the same then turned his attention back at the menu.

"Later" he smiled. "I think I will go for Spaghetti bolognaise."

"Yeah, good idea, that's just about the only thing I have heard of on here" I smiled looking at the menu.

"Not your type of place then?" He asked looking at me for a response.

"Nah, I just don't go out often, I cook what I want to eat and I'm not very experimental with food, I don't like a lot of the cuisines so I stick to what I know I like."

"That sounds like a sad existence." He said whilst ordering a foreign dish from the menu that I had never heard of.

"What was that" I smiled.

"You'll see, you are still having your spaghetti but I wanted to try something new." He grinned.

"Oh ok then" I half-smiled.

The food arrived and I quite liked my spaghetti but Seth decided to offer me some of his food so that he could have my opinion on it. I leaned over and took what looked like a fried mushroom off his fork and swallowed.

"Wow, that's amazing"

"See, now if you don't experiment, how are you ever going to expand your taste buds?" he asked.

"I guess I'm not" I agreed.

"Hey, I'm not knocking you, I used to be just like you before I started travelling the world, you have to open yourself up to new experiences of you will never know."

"Do you do this often" I asked out of the blue.

"What." He replied.

"Meet girls, stay with them for a week, and then move on." I realised what I had said as soon as I had said it when I saw Seth's face drop and immediately wanted to take the words back.

"Is that how little you think of me" he huffed, "You actually think I could put myself through this in every country I go to? I knew a long time ago that I would never be able to have a normal functional relationship with a woman, I knew that there were some sacrifices I needed to make but so does every single other guy and girl in that locker room, they all know the sacrifices but I'm an entertainer, I get paid a lot of money for what I do and I love doing it. I love the feeling of being out there and entertaining the audience. I am so lucky to be where I am and I could be replaced by ten different guys."

I watched Seth as he spoke so fondly about his work and smiled. I wish I had the love he had for his job at mine. I have always felt behind the pack, like I didn't belong, football is the only reason I am still there, because I would be lost without it.

"That was quite beautiful," I said a while later when I was sure Seth was finished.

"I am a lot like you ya know" he nodded towards me "I never let anyone into this exterior shell of mine. I build up a massive wall because I know I could never ask a woman to make the sacrifices I have to make on a daily basis, I get to go home 60 days a year. I haven't seen my family yet this year. It kills me but I'm a performer, I put on a brave face."

"You have to, I fully understand, I wish I was as strong as you Seth, it must be really lonely." I smiled.

"I have friends, I feel like they fill the void."

"Where do they think you have been this week? Roman and Dean, don't you spend time together?"

"Not really, Dean's girlfriend is in the Wrestling business to so he is always off with her and Roman is always skypeing his fiancé and daughter." He replied.

"Wow, Roman has a daughter." I responded "Damn. He's taken!"

"Got over me that fast." Seth smiled.

"Hurry up and finish your dinner so I can get under you!" I joked.

"I'm done." He smiled "Let's go."

Seth paid for the meal and we headed out of the restaurant and down the short alleyway to my street. We didn't even make it through the door when we go to my house, I put my key in the lock and pushed but I turned to let Seth in and his lips met mine and we quickly started to undress each other all the way through the house until we collapsed in to a semi-naked pile on my bed.

"I want to savour this moment." Seth smiled kissing me hard on the lips.

"Don't make me feel sad again, I don't want you to leave as it is, I want to savour this moment forever but Seth you have a life and I have a life, we both have our jobs to do. We should enjoy the time we have and then decide on what to do when we get there."

"When did you get all emotional and sensible?" Seth laughed.

"Since I met you and you showed me the person I should be and the person I want to be." I replied smiling.

"I think I'm falling in love with you." Seth confessed.

"Welcome to my world, I know I'm in love with you." I smiled then leaned in to kiss Seth but he pulled back.

"How long have you known this then?" He asked.

"I have recently started to believe in love at first sight." I grinned.

"Me too." He responded and leaned back in to kiss me before pulling me in to hug him and kissing my head.

"Tomorrow is going to be the hardest day of my life." He sighed.

"Mine to." I agreed.


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up Friday morning with a pang of dread in my stomach, I knew today was the day Seth left and I knew there was nothing I could do to stop him, come dinner time he had to be at WWE's last live event in the UK and then he was flying back to the US in time for their weekend shows.

He had told me so many times about his schedule and how hard he was worked but I still hadn't come to terms with it, right now Seth was breathing ever so lightly under my head, I could feel his breath in my hair and it made me smile, having him there was so different for me but at the same time it made me feel sort of safe.

Seth moved underneath me and took me out of my current day dream and allowed me to fall back into reality.

"You awake" he whispered

"Yeah" I whispered back.

Seth sat up and knocked my head off him so we both sat upright in bed not wanting to make eye contact with each other.

"Come on, let's get up, get some breakfast and then have some time together before I have to leave" He tried to convince me.

"Ok, fine."

He headed off to get dressed whilst I made the bed, tided the room and headed downstairs to make breakfast. I decided on a fry-up and go all the things ready to cook, I began making eggs in the frying pan and Seth came in behind me and hugged me.

"I have hot oil here, don't make me burn myself" I half-shouted.

"Sorry, you ok? Want me to help cook anything?" he offered.

"Nah, I'm good, go set the table."

Seth headed off to set the table and I stared after him, and the day dreaming nearly started again but the smoke from the egg brought me back into the room and I started putting the breakfast on the plates.

I took the plates into the other room and sat down with Seth.

"Enjoy" I said putting the plate in front of him.

"Thank you, dear" Seth replied.

We ate our breakfast's quietly, neither of us wanting to talk about the elephant that was very much in the room. Seth finished first and was the first to break the awkward silence.

"So, that was the famous English breakfast." He smiled "I like it."

"Thanks, it's an easy recipe." I laughed.

"What do you wanna do?" Seth asked "You wanna talk?"

"About?" I replied.

"We just need to talk, I feel like we need to have some time together before I have months without you." He said whole-heartedly.

"Ok" I decided and cleared the plates away before curling up at the side of Seth on the sofa.

"So, how is this whole long distance thing going to work?" He asked.

"You want us to continue this after you leave." I smiled.

"Of course, I am going to miss you like crazy, I need to call you at least a few times a week so I can hear your voice." He laughed.

"Seriously, my terrible accent?" I laughed back.

"Yes. Carmen I can't quit you cold turkey. It would kill me. I wouldn't be able to concentrate on work, please let me call you and skype and stuff." He begged.

"Of course you can." I smiled.

"Thank you." He sighed with relief and pulled me in closer to him. "We will make this work, then I'm back her in April, it's like four and a half months away we will make it work."

"Yes we will." I said defiantly and felt a tear roll down my cheek, Seth wiped it away and kissed me again.

"Don't cry, this is a beginning, not an ending." He soothed.

"Anymore clichés you want to bring in to the conversation?" I asked sarcastically.

"No, I am serious, I know it's a cliché but I mean it." He said and stood up. "I have to go soon."

He went into the closet to find his coat and gathered all of his things together, I watched him, my eyes following him all the way as he did until he finally turned and looked back at me.

"Are you gonna come and hug me goodbye?" he smiled.

I jumped up and ran over to him.

"Of course I am!" I grinned.

Seth took me into a sort of bear hug for a few seconds then dropped his arms but I refused to let go.

"Carmen, you are going to need to let go." He whispered.

"No, I refuse! No." I said gripping him tighter.

Seth put his arms around me again and slowly praised my arms from around him, damn that strength of his, he kissed me again on the lips, a kiss that lingered long after he walked through the door and waved goodbye.

Then he was gone. I was alone, and I heard the car drive away and was overcome with tears, I didn't know when I would see him again and I couldn't believe the day had come that he was gone.

I dragged myself up the stairs and lay in bed. Just thinking of both of us in there a few hours earlier, and a lump grew in my throat. Then an idea came into my head, I went online and found out where the WWE were performing tonight.

They were in Cardiff, Wales. I phoned my friend Kylie and asked her to drive me down and gathered some clothes together, got changed and waited for Kylie to come and pick me up.

I explained the situation to her and she thought I was crazy but agreed to drive me to Cardiff and we left and began the journey, I had no idea what I was going to say to him or what I was going to Do. I just knew I had to see him and talk to him.

We arrived just as the show was ending so I headed to the backstage area where I saw Roman who let me through and into Seth's dressing room and promised not to tell him I was in there.

I sat on the sofa opposite the door and waited until I saw the half blonde headed figure enter, he didn't see me and shut the door with his back to me.

"Did you win?" I asked beaming from ear to ear.

"Of course I…"Seth stopped as he turned around and saw it was me that asked, "Carmen" he beamed as I ran towards him and hugged him.

"Good, because I could never date a loser." I teased.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?" he asked.

"My friend brought me here and after you left I felt like I had to come after you. Although now I realise that I only have to say goodbye to you again." I scowled.

"I know, but I'm glad you did." He spoke as he kissed my hair and we sat down on his sofa.

"My flight out is in about 20 minutes, I really have to go" Seth said after a few minutes. And I realised this was good bye again.

I got back into the car with Kylie and told her what had happened and she gave me an idea of how I could get what I needed to off my chest.


	7. Chapter 7

If it was a feature Mark wanted it was a feature I was going to give him. I sat at my computer for the best part of three hours planning this feature and deciding how to put everything I had been through in the last week into words.

I didn't know if it was all going to make sense as I poured it all out onto the page and thought through everything I needed to put into it. Tears formed in the corner of my eyes as I remembered all of our moments together and the feelings and the long goodbyes we had had. I closed my eyes and saw Seth's face but all it did was make me miss him even more.

I was all teared up and about to give up writing when my phone started ringing, it was Seth. I really didn't want to answer because of how close to tears I was. But I decided I had to answer or he would worry. I Picked up the phone and heard his voice on the other end.

"Hey, are you ok?" came the voice I had been longing to hear.

"I'm fine, how are you." I mumbled, the lump at the back of my throat still present.

"You don't sound alright." He pressed.

"I was just feeling a bit emotional, I am getting some work done and it's forcing me to reminisce the last week, that's all." I replied.

"Aww. Don't be sad, we have had some happy memories this week, our memories are not over either, I promise. He whispered by I could hear the emotion coming through.

"I know, we both promised, April can't come fast enough." I smiled through the phone.

"I have a live event coming up, I just had some free time but I have to go now." Seth tried to explain but I could hear that he didn't actually want to leave.

"It's ok. I have work to do, call me whenever you are next free." I told him firmly

"I will and you call me whenever you need to alright?" he asked.

"I will. I'm counting down the days." I said.

"Me too," Seth replied, "Oh and Carmen….?"

"What?" I asked.

"I love you."

"I love you too" I replied before putting the phone down and continuing my story. I liked the look of it but there were some really emotional parts in it. I thought I would leave them in though because they conveyed what I was feeling at that moment in time.

I finished up the article and emailed it over to Mark. Then sat and re-read it over and over wondering if there was any bits I had missed, then I decided to head off to bed, it was getting late and I knew I had to put up with Mark's comments tomorrow because he didn't get the piece he wanted so I needed to make sure I got some sleep.

I woke up the following morning to a message from Mark saying he needed to see me urgently, I thought I knew what he wanted, he hated the article and I was gonna get in trouble for being un professional with Seth. I was gonna lose my job. Great, so I lose my job and my boyfriend in the space of two days.

I couldn't even be bothered to get up and dressed but I threw on the first clothes I could find and walked the short route to work and went up to Mark's office and knocked on the door.

"Carmen come on in" He shouted.

"Hey, come on Mark, get it over with, I'm exhausted and I know I have been unprofessional and I deserve to lose my job. I can only apologise for the feelings I felt and I should never of done any of it because now I feel worse than I did before." I thought if I pleaded my case Mark would let me off lightly.

"What are you taking about?" Mark responded "I read your feature, I love it. I sent it to head office, they love it, they are sending it to the national press, they want it to be the cover story for tomorrow."

I was unsure of what Mark had just said but I thought he had just said that mine and Seth's story was making the front page of national press.

"Are you ok?" Mark asked.

"Huh?" I replied "I thought you just said you liked my story."

"I did. Everyone I have shown does, we are running with it as tomorrow's cover page, do you approve?"

"I do." I agreed.

"Great, just sign these forms then get yourself off home and get some sleep." Mark smiled and I signed the forms and headed back home.

Freedom for a day but I had nothing to do and I wasn't actually tired, I just felt really shitty. I thought this was the perfect time to call Seth.

"Hey, hows your day going?" I asked when his husky voice came through on the line.

"It's just got better." He replied. "How's yours?"

"I've been sent home from work because I look exhausted and I have just landed the cover page for a national newspaper tomorrow." I giggled.

"Seriously? I am so happy for you babe, well done." He gasped.

"I know, first time ever!" I gleefully responded.

"I will be able to read it too. I can get the national papers here. I actually can't wait!" He shouted excitedly.

"You will?" I asked.

"Yes, why?"

"No reason, I can't wait either." I decided "I have to go, I left food in the oven sorry to cut this short, see ya soon."

Seth was going to read my article about him! Oh no! Why did I have to brag? He is going to read it and never speak to me again, I have basically just put our life story out there for the world to see! I wanted the ground to swallow me, what was I going to do.

I was stressing myself out, but I couldn't do anything about it now so I decided to have a shower and a nap, things would look better after 15 hours of sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up the next morning with the familiar feeling of dread, it was Sunday, there was football today and wanted to go and watch. So I woke up early enough to get the train to Manchester and watch the champions host Chelsea at Old Trafford. I got there early and got into my familiar position in the press box, I was readying all my equipment when I heard my phone ringing.

"Hey, Seth. Sorry I'm at a football game, what's wrong?" I answered

"Wrong?" he half shouted, "Carmen we need to talk."

I remembered, my article! Oh no!

"Have you seen the paper?" I asked, quite scared.

"I have, my friends have, my family have! Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm at the United/Chelsea game in Manchester, I am reporting on it so I will have to talk to you later, I need to go and get the team news, I'm sorry."

I put the phone down and could feel a knot forming in my stomach, I was not prepared for whatever Seth was going to say, or do. I only wrote the article because I needed to get it all out onto paper and I thought it would be a good story to warn other girls about the problems with dating someone in a high maintenance job.

I was pretty worried and it was ruining my concentration, twice I had missed the goal scorer and now I couldn't even properly do my report, I was stressed out of my head so I was pretty happy when half-time came so I could go and get a drink and calm myself.

I sat back in my seat and watched the half-time show on the pitch to make sure there was nothing news worthy going on and looked up at the main screen and saw a sign that said "Carmen report to the car park" I stared at the lights for a few minutes and then decided it wasn't for me but I could go and check there was enough time before the teams came out.

I looked around and decided it was too cold and wasn't a notice for me, I mean Old Trafford holds 10's of thousands of people, how many Carmen's could be out there.

Just as I was entering the lift, I heard my name, it was like a reverse of the first day I met Seth, he was standing there, in Manchester, in the flesh. I was in trouble.

"First off I am so so sorry, it was supposed to be a local story, I didn't even want it to be published it was like a diary entry I had to write down and I allowed Mark to send it to the national papers because my ego enjoyed it and right now I'm really cold and very sorry and I feel sick." It was my version of an apology and I was hoping Seth accepted, the fact that he had got here in such a short space of time meant that it was not likely I was getting out of it that easily.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "Everyone loved your article. They read it and then realised why I have been moping around and botching a lot at house shows lately. The WWE asked to see me this morning and I had to go and sit in the big wigs office."

"Have you been fired?" I asked, terrified as I waited for the response.

"No Carmen, I haven't, you don't understand what I am saying here, I told the guys that my lifestyle was hard but I couldn't tour one more day without you, after reading your article I was fully aware that you felt the same way, it was like a beacon, a cry for help and I couldn't ignore it any longer."

"You've quit? But your contract…."I began.

"No, I haven't quit you stupid, WWE have decided that they will not keep me from you any longer, I am an asset to their company and they have offered you a Wrestling journalism job, working for the WWE and touring with me for the rest of the year."

"They have done what!" I screamed.

"You are coming with me to quit your job and fly out to California where Carmen…." He paused and looked at me and then slowly lowered himself to his knees and pulled a box out of his pocket, I was about to burst when suddenly he asked:

"Will you marry me?"

I screamed and hugged him, he had found a way for us both to do the job we love as well as being able to spend the rest our lives together.

I could never express in words the way I felt about this man and how much he had changed my life in the week I had spent with him. I let go of him and leaned down and kissed me before saying.

"Carmen, you haven't answered me."

"Of course I will marry you, you stupid." I smiled before Seth kissed me again and I heard voiced behind us.

"I take it she said yes" Said one.

"Get in there my son." Said the other.

I let go of Seth's lips and looked at the people behind me, it was Dean and Roman, they had made the trip with Seth knowing full well he was going to propose and wanted to be here to congratulate him if I agreed.

I hugged them both and thanked them for getting Seth back here but then realised I was missing the end of the game. Seth looked at me and said "it's me or football sweetheart." And for the first time in my life, I chose a guy over football. And jumped into the backseat of the land rover with Seth off to begin whatever life it was we were going to have together. Our first stop was back to my local paper so I could do what I have wanted to do for a long time, tell Mark to stick it!


End file.
